"We had really hoped to confirm recent blog reports that a massive Apple Computer store going up in midtown Manhattan, aka "Apple Mecca," will be the company's first retail outlet open 24 hours a day.

But, alas, an Apple spokesman said the company isn't ready to confirm, deny or make any official announcements about the store, so we can only offer our observations, and point to what others have written.

The store--which will reportedly be 25,000 square feet--is located in the underground retail plaza of the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th streets, according to a February Think Secret report. Our photographer confirmed Friday that construction is well underway on a cube-shaped above-ground entrance to the building.

By all accounts, the store is supposed to open sometime in late May, and might also be the first store to feature an iPod Bar.

We were particularly impressed with the San Francisco Chronicle Culture Blog's observation that the "Mecca's" above-ground entrance "bears an uncanny resemblance to the big black Ka'bah (AKA: The House O' Abraham) to whence all Islamic pilgrims take their grueling mandatory hajj."

Makes sense, the blog adds, "because it shall be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and hence shall be the place New Yorkers shall take a holy pilgrimage whenever they crave a new iPod Nano at 4:00 am or when they desperately need "